Today’s Zaman, Turkey
June 14 2009
The plot casting a shadow over BaÅ?buÄ?’s speech
By MEHMET YILMAZ — The Taraf newspaper on Friday ran a headline that
many saw as extremely horrifying. The news story connected with the
headline disclosed an action plan drafted by the Operations Department
of the General Staff that aims to plan conspiracies against the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Fethullah Gülen
with a view to portraying them as potentially criminal in the eyes of
the general public.
The plan, prepared by the Col. Dursun �içek, talks about
a number of black propaganda moves such as mobilizing agents inside
the AK Party, defending the military officers who are defendants at
the Ergenekon trial, preparing news stories about Greece and Armenia
that will create reactions among the people and that will help to
expand the voter base of the nationalist parties, and discrediting
popular TV serials such as `Kurtlar Vadisi,’ `Kollama’ and `Tek
Türkiye.’
The plan, which was prepared in April, was seized during a police
search at the office of Serdar Ã-ztürk, who was the lawyer
of retired Col. Levent GöktaÅ?, currently under arrest in
connection with the Ergenekon investigation. (Ã-ztürk, too,
was arrested several days ago.) The plan heavily uses the concepts of
"friendly" and "enemy" during the implementation of the activities
envisaged thereunder.
The most heinous part of the plan consists of developing certain
conspiracy plots in order to charge innocent people with false
crimes. The following horrifying excerpts are from this brazen plan:
– In the propaganda to be spread, it will be frequently noted that we
are not against religion.
– Actions will be planned without creating the impression that they
are changing the agenda of the Ergenekon trial and the pro-religion
media will not be allowed to concentrate on this.
– We will create the impression that the supporters of Fethullah
Gülen are going too far and are directly attacking the Turkish
Armed Forces (TSK), and we will conduct activities that will make sure
that even conservative citizens will say: "This is too much. We are
all Muslims, but these supporters of Fethullah Gülen are making
provocations in order to attack the TSK."
– Reactionary military officers and noncommissioned officers who are
in the category of unfavorable/suspicious will be reported to be
involved in reactionaryism propaganda, and then news stories will
suggest that these people behave immorally.
– As part of the operations against the reactionary TSK members,
intimidating propaganda will be conducted against those unidentified
reactionary TSK members in order to force them to make errors or
collapse on their own.
– During the raids against the addresses of Gülen’s followers
to be conducted under the military penal code, weapons, ammunition,
plans and other materials will be arranged to be seized so that the
Fethullah Gülen group is described as an armed terrorist
organization or Pro-Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FTÃ-) and the
investigations concerning it will be conducted under military
jurisdiction.
It is really saddening to see that an institution whose primary duty
is to ensure the security of Turkey and the Turkish people completely
ignores the law and thinks about how to manufacture crimes against
innocent people and attempts to implement a plan to this end.
It is grievous… This is because the plot in question manufactures
crimes in order to portray innocent people as guilty in the eyes of
the general public and before the law.
The plot in question intends to make people culpable for military
crimes in order to mobilize the military judiciary.
It aims to employ the military judiciary in order to deprive people of
their right to a defense.
Then?
Then, everything will be easier.
The media organizations will step in to launch a smear campaign
against the Fethullah Gülen group in order to defame them in
the eyes of the general public and convict them in the military
courts.
How?
Through plots to present them as members of a terrorist organization.
Why should an organization seek to undertake such an action plan?
In 2000, then-State Security Court (DGM) prosecutor Nuh Mete
Yüksel launched a case against Fethullah Gülen
Hocaefendi on charges of establishing an illegal organization. At the
end of the eight-year case, he was acquitted. Upon objections, the
General Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the
acquittal.
Thus, it turned out that all the crimes attributed to Gülen
were just libel ?????.
Why do they need to resort to conspiracies in order to overturn an
acquittal decision given by civilian courts after a litigation process
of eight years?
Does this mean that the military courts are fairer? Is it because they
do not want to take the crimes they will manufacture to the civilian
courts?
Who can attempt to place weapons and ammunition in the houses of
innocent students to find them later just to accuse them of being
members of a fabricated terrorist organization? Can we consider these
people patriotic in their efforts to defame those innocent students?
I hope the General Staff will do whatever is required about this plot,
which has created great suspicions about the TSK.
Otherwise, they will be deprived of legitimacy in the eyes of the
general public for their efforts to defend some retired or active
military officers who had been involved in some illegal activities by
resorting to the principle of presumption of innocence against the
evidence obtained by prosecutors, the arsenals uncovered and the
charges made under the Ergenekon investigation.
Similarly, their complaints that there is a systematic opposition that
aims to weaken the TSK will never be heard.
The speeches given by Chief of General Staff Gen. Ä°lker
BaÅ?buÄ? on April 14 at the War Academies Command and on
April 29 at the General Staff headquarters and which were described as
highly intellectual must have been considerably overshadowed by this
plan.
I hope he will soon announce that those who prepared this plan will
never achieve their goals and that he will rebuke those who consider
the majority of the nation and the government as the "enemy."
Until then, his statement that no one who undertakes activities
against the existing democratic regime will be allowed to stay within
the TSK will not be convincing.
14 June 2009, Sunday
MEHMET YILMAZ Ä°STANBUL